Ryn
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Chapter 325
🕑 Added 2025-04-01 20:12:59 +0000 UTCToby POV
When Mackenzie told him and Aaron about the job, they had both been a bit hesitant. It didn’t have to deal with the fact that they were killing a person. No, they had taken plenty of assassination jobs before.
However, they usually strayed from those involving certain people. One of those groups included children. Especially younger ones.
Yet, she had come to them with a job to kill a boy. He wasn’t a little boy, but he was still young. The only thing that made the idea somewhat tolerable was when she mentioned the boy was Tier 3 and had done some bad things to deserve the punishment.
He didn’t know who had hired Mackenzie, and she wouldn’t say, no matter how much they tried to get her to talk. But he had a feeling that the mission came directly from her family. He knew her well enough by now that she only ever got this quiet when it involved her Clan or people connected with it.
They all believed it would be a simple job. A Tier 3 boy? They had assassinated a Tier 4 noble and his guards the other month without any issue. A Tier 3 boy was a walk in the park compared to that mission.
At least that was what they had thought.
Everything had been carefully planned; no matter how easy they thought it was going to be, they understood the need to be professional. They found out everything about the boy they could find.
They learned who his friends were and what his schedule was like. While he seemed friendly with some influential kids, it shouldn’t matter. It wasn’t like they were actually going to be assassinating them. Their only target was the boy, and he was an orphan with no family that might retaliate.
They even investigated his abilities, although that was a bit easier to figure out since he was an active participant in the local tournament.
They observed him fighting and labeled him as a warrior who used his fists as his primary method of attacking. This was good and bad for them.
The good news was that he didn’t seem to be the most sturdy or tanky type of bare-fist fighter, which improved their chances of killing him with poison.
But they were a bit worried because they all noticed how quick the boy’s reactions were. Undoubtedly, he had some type of advanced perception skill to go along with an equally impressive body enhancement skill. Additionally, the boy was quite skilled, as he had to be since he had claimed a top sixteen spot for the final round.
Thankfully, he was still just Tier 3. If he had advanced to Tier 4, then Toby wasn’t sure they would be able to get the drop on him. But the three of them were all Tier 4s, and if it came to it, they would take him down.
However, all of their plans went to shit when the first plan failed spectacularly. Mackenzie had managed to administer her potent poison, but the boy reacted even faster than they could have ever expected.
Before they could react, he had Mackenzie down on the ground, completely immobilized. Sure, the boy had managed to take her by surprise, but it was still alarming to see him keep her there and somehow disturb her shadow skills that should have allowed her to escape.
She escaped only thanks to the good fortune of the other man intervening. The only other way to save her would be to cause an even larger disturbance than they already did.
While the lords who ruled over Heston didn’t like to interfere with stuff like this, they wouldn’t hesitate to step in and make their presence known if something got too out of hand.
Fortunately, it didn’t have to come to that, and she was able to make it away safely.
However, what came as an even bigger surprise was their target leaving himself wide open to them. Perhaps he believed he was safe after the failed attempt, but he must not have known that Toby had been watching him the entire time with his unique skill.
A part of him was worried about it being a bait, but after making sure that nobody was following the boy, they decided to finish the job. They had a reputation to uphold, and they were already paid up front.
Yet, the boy managed to hold his own. It didn’t matter what they threw at the boy; he just didn’t die. Why couldn’t he just give up and die? It would make their job so much easier.
He kept on supporting his team. He made sure that Aaron was always protected by infusing his body with mana and other supportive skills. He also ensured that the boy wasn’t able to get comfortable, always throwing a random attack at him, forcing him to either dodge or block it.
Some people liked to tease Toby that his method of fighting was not honorable and that it was sneaky. But, to hell with these people. The only honor there is in the world is the one where you live long enough to experience it.
He didn’t care if he had to fight dirty. As long as he survived, it didn’t matter. You can't complain if you're dead.
Yet as he thought this to himself, he widened his eyes as the tide shifted so suddenly that Toby froze for a brief second. The boy managed to disappear into thin air, and Aaron got hit by Mackenzie’s attack.
Thankfully, the woman was able to pull back before the poison killed her teammate, but that momentary lapse of concentration was enough that he lost view of the boy.
He frantically searched everywhere with his skills.
He sensed the mana before he saw the attack. It was a concentrated surge of mana right below him. When he looked down, all he saw were dozens of powerful constructs tearing through the sky, right where he was. It was like a brilliant wave of blue light spearing toward him with such deadly speed.
How did he find me? And how is he able to control so many attacks at once? He thought desperately to himself. His stealth skill was really good. Not many people should have been able to see through it, yet this boy did.
He threw up every barrier and defensive skill he could, but it wasn’t enough. The mana spikes tore through his defenses, and countless constructs bombarded him. Each of them detonated in his face, and before he knew it, everything went black.
***
Julius POV
The entire night sky lit up in a ball of flame. It didn’t matter what the mage did, but Julius ensured that he overwhelmed him with sure firepower and explosions.
When the plume of smoke disappeared, he could see a small black speck falling out of the air. He wasn’t able to sense anything coming from the burnt and blackened body.
He heard a primal screech from the woman and soon found himself getting attacked by a wave of shadow magic.
Unlike her previously small and compressed attacks, this one was just a blunt blast of death energy containing all of her rage at losing her teammate. While it was impressive to look at and hard to dodge, there wasn’t the same level of compression that he had been worried about before.
As such, he had a pretty easy time dissipating the effects before they could seep in.
He also got attacked by the remaining man, but knowing that the mage wasn’t there to support them anymore, he decided to go for it. Without hesitation, he grappled the man with the shortsword, ignoring the stabs to the body.
He was more than happy to take a few injuries because, in return, he used all of his aura and kinetic energy to crush the man in his arms. Now that the mage wasn’t helping protect his teammate, Julius’s abilities absolutely crushed any resistance they faced.
The man groaned out in pain, and before the woman could come over and help, he had already formed a condensed ball of mana in his palm. He then proceeded to shove the orb of mana against the man’s head, detonating it without regard to his own safety.
Of course, he made sure to create a barrier to protect himself, but it didn’t do much. The orb exploded in a deadly boom. Julius lost a nice chunk of his face, but his opponent came out much worse for wear. The only thing remaining of him was his lower jaw. The entire upper half of his skull was a mist of blood.
He got stabbed by the woman before he could react, and kicked her away from him. This time, the poison was more concentrated and managed to penetrate his defenses. He could already tell that it was eating away at his flesh.
He turned his ruinous aura to chip away at it while he used [Phoenix Renewal] to heal his injuries before directing it toward the poison.
He saw the woman’s face, which was consumed with rage and grief, slowly morph into one of shock as his flesh regenerated before her very eyes. Only now realizing that he could heal such egregious injuries.
She tried to run, but he had a good idea of how her abilities worked at this point and blasted out his ruinous aura in every direction around him, focusing on destroying any and all shadow mana techniques.
This worked way better than he could have hoped because while he disrupted her skills, he also managed to hurt her with his aura. Then, as she started to dash away from him, he used a powerful pulse of kinetic energy to stall her and grabbed her by the arm.
Without any hesitation and with more satisfaction than was probably appropriate, he lifted her up in the air and slammed her down onto the ground as hard as he could. What he didn’t think about was the fact that she wasn’t as durable as the other man had been, and her arm was ripped away before he could slam her.
Still, she screamed out as her arm was literally ripped clean from her shoulder. She tried to make a run for it, but he wasn’t going to allow her to do that again. Nope, not on his watch.
So he grabbed hold of her once more and this time, using her leg as a handhold, he slammed her into the ground face first. Hard, but not hard enough to kill her. He wanted to daze and stun her more than anything else.
Thankfully, his strategy worked because she barely put up a resistance as he pressured her with his aura and held her down with his kinetic energy. There was nothing she could do as he made sure to ruthlessly tear apart any mana workings she attempted.
His aura viciously destroyed anything in its path. It didn’t matter how hard or desperately she tried; he shoved all of his unrestrained aura into her body and watched as her soul started to warp under the effects of it.
Her screams slowly changed into one of soft muttering and crying. Only when he was confident that he had her wholly secured did he get off her back, sitting next to her with a slightly exhausted smile.
“I think it’s time we introduce ourselves properly.”
Comments
Abe 7
Julius is awesome, an equal opportunity beatdown. Love it
Lance Wheeler
Brutally done.
Conrad Manaugh
Dead
Silver Beard
Loot! Don't forget to take any jewelry...even that burnt mage might have something that survived the fall.
Silver Beard
Lily admitted she had a beacon so her family could find her; Julius should acquire one so Lily can find him too. That said he's just outside the city. Communication stone should work. Could really use a mind mage for the interrogation.
Hamfist
You might be jumping the gun. We don't know that they didn't follow him. We only know that the mage didn't notice anybody following and nobody helped with the fight. The t5 we just met could easily have been watching the whole fight and stayed out of the way since Julius didn't need any help. Or the next chapter could start with his friends arriving out of breath from running towards the sound of that woman screaming when Julius used his aura. Or you could be right and Julius's friends are all just as clueless as him. I guess we'll see on Monday
Len
Only complaint i have with this whole thing..SOMEONE just tried to kill him, he defeats that person she gets away due to interference, then 4 of his very best friends-despite being very worried because of said assassination attempt- and that tier 5 guy- just lets him WALK AWAY? without following discretely? without calling/contacting THEIR tier 5's (who like juls) to go hey juls just had an assassination attempt on him, you busy i want you to follow him... other than that, i want more...HOPEFULLY someone WAS following him, and we just do not know it yet, at least i know that LARGE BOOM in the air probably alerted people/guards and they are otw.
Nina
Tftc
George McKibbin
Log in for my morning coffee, vape and Julius. My heart is shook but I did enjoy those chapters all in a row. Good choice I think :)
Hamfist
Nothing about a mass release. This was an exception because we were asking for it and they are all one long scene. The normal daily schedule will resume next Monday
Hamfist
No there were three attackers. The guy hit by her attack is the same one that had the top half of his head turned to mist. In the mage's POV it says she was able to cancel the poison aspect so he could get back into the fight.
Huy Ngo
Did he tell us what day of the week the next mass release will be?
Kevin McKinney
If I counted right, there is still another guy out there still alive, just suffering from Mackenzie’s attack …
deus vault
wdym will nilly? they tried to kill him.
Profile Name
Tyftc
George McKibbin
They clearly deserve it but he’s really just going around killing people willy nilly now. Dark path, I like it. That ruinous aura eh. Become the hero they deserve, the the one they want kind of vibes
Paul Smith
But it was worth it
Dan Chadwick
No shortage of talent or bruised egos there!
Robert Reilly
Now what do I do? Every day at noon I’m gunna open Patreon eager to find resolution to this cliffhanger and until next week I’m just gunna be a hollow shell of a man, anticipating an end that will never come.
Kemlion
Tftc
Hamfist
Do you remember the attack when his uncle Lucas was killed? Not the traitor elders who ambushed them at the teleportation circle, but the first wave of attackers who were hiding in the shadows in the hall outside the bedrooms and intended to kill them all in their sleep. They had been mentioned a few chapters before that because Edwin also has a shadow affinity and they tried to recruit him. He didn't join because he didn't want to spend the rest of his life murdering people.
Robert Wallace
Thanks for the chapters. See you next release.
ItsBeru
I remember nothing of this shadow clan can someone remind me??
Albadia
too good!!! ok! ok! ok! Maybe… maybe the REAL april fools joke is these are bonus chapters, and we’re still getting the regular chapters. yah… that’s it.
Katonwolf
Also, I can't wait to find out when/how Edwin finds out that Julius is alive. Last we heard from him was in the early chapters
Katonwolf
I'm contemplating rereading the whole story while I wait for new chapters
Kyfe
I knew this was going to happen. It's why I was one of the 24% saying 1 per day, lol.
Amanda
SO GOOD OMG!! LOVED THIS!! Thanks for the chapters! It’s going to be such a hard wait!!
Michael Canan
You’re a dog, W chapters
KooZnack
What a TRAP we now have a massive cliff and need to wait a whole week 😭
Oskar
Thanks for the chapters 😁
Mitchell Prevost
The extra release chapters were a TRAP! I need more
Fozzy
Amazing sequence. Thank you. Since I voted for a daily chapter, I look forward to seeing what's happens tomorrow 🤗
Hamfist
I was thinking that his friends and/or a certain curious tier 5 might be paying attention.
Hamfist
So I'm thinking about why he was targeted and I doubt that it's his family or anything related to the work he did for House Easton. I'm betting that it's noble BS, either somebody mad at him for being "disrespectful" to an opponent in the tournament or somebody is upset that he's friends with the princess. Or it could be Pollux's bet that Julius is going to win the tournament. He placed a large bet with long odds and whoever took that bet is probably worried they might go bankrupt paying it out.
kyle
Very nice thank you!
A B
Edit suggestion: didn’t have to deal with -> didn’t have to do with disturb her shadow -> disrupt her shadow were already paid up front -> were paid up front
PatronTurtle
Julius seems angry
Azulmar
Loved the chapter dump! At least the only cliff is seeing the numbers go up.
Damnsarge
Thank you! Not having chapters for the week will hurt but its well worth it!
Detrox
These are the chapters why I fell in love with this novel. I am not saying we need one random event chained into another, but frankly there are lately so many novels which do the school => tournament and stretch it for months that I am really glad we have these moments.
Kevin McKinney
I have to wonder if anyone from town noticed the fireworks and are gonna come running.
Kevin McKinney
Solid stuff! Thank you!
Sloth
Highlight of my day was seeing the whole week out. I don’t want something like this regularly, but for situations like this where each chapter is emotionally connected to each other, it’s much better to have it all in one go. Otherwise a lot of the emotions get lost in the in-between time
Voral
I honestly feel that right now Julius would purely thank him for letting him duke it out with 3 Tier 4 at once rather than only 2.
God
I will not be at piece until I know that that Franklin guy was punished or exploited for rare resources.
Voral
These chapters have legitimately just tripled Julius whole aura out of nowhere, I'm so glad you decided to upload them all at once! TFTC! And now time to wait a full week for the next chapter.
Hamfist
Yeah, but he can get some points by turning the assassin over for interrogation. Let the woman find out just how scary Lily can truly be.
jeremiah banner
I can't even explain to you how satisfying this chapter was.
Raymond Mouton
I freely admit this was a great set of chapters though.
Bosparan
Thanks for the chapter! Now that was an awesome showdown :) Also thank you for the large chapter dump! That being said, I'm not sure whether it's a good idea to dump the entire week in one go as a routine practice, much as I appreciate the chapters just read. A chapter a day is a nice pacing as well and keeps the story fresh in mind. On the other hand, getting the full fight in one package is pretty nifty, don't think I'd have wanted to wait between those chapters. So ... I'm definitely onboard when it comes to "extra chapters to avoid evil cliffhangers" - I mean, we're already patreons, you already _have_ us hooked, not like you need cliffhangers to keep my subscription ;)
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapters. Although you decided to satisfy the vast majority of your audience with this release today. Please maintain a schedule that is comfortable and sustainable for you, we’ll deal with it. And simply end up anxiously waiting with chewed fingernails…
William Johnson
Bye Toby! Bye short sword guy! You had poor choice in friends! I will say I think this played out better as (effectively) one long chapter rather than a series of short chapters, it kept the action propulsive rather than being constantly interrupted. Thanks for the chapter!
Haran
Hell yeah
Dylan Sutton
That was a sick fight.
Tanner Lannister
Oh that was a nice little fix. Also Lily is about to be sooo pissed he used himself as bait without telling her.
brennon Petersen
Tftc!
matthew strong
What have we done
Zay
Thank you for the chapter
Radek Homola
I would really like to see a stand off between her aura and his, I dont know who would win
samwise
Oh crap now gotta wait until next week?
Hamfist
These chapters are a great sequence. Be honest, you dropped them all like this because you were proud of the work and wanted to show off. You deserve it, this is some quality work.
Jason Jiang
Post one more for April fools!
Niclas Elmers
Tftc
Curthbert Kansiime-ruhanga
Yeah you fucked big time lol woman 😂😂😂
Thaabit Rivertree
Wow that was an intense fight!
DT
A cliffhanger 😭 Thanks for the chapters though
Derek Walker
Fireworks for friends to come find him. Lily will murder him for this
Kanyau
Not 1, not 2, but 3... Homie really doesn't know how to be lowkey😂TYFTC!
Rod
tftc
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
